Book Extract: The Beach House by P.R. Black
I am happy to be part of the blog tour for The Beach House, the latest novel from P.R. Black.
This vacation is about to turn deadly…
Cora’s on the island vacation of her dreams: a private beach in paradise, a romantic proposal, and an eight-figure cheque following the sale of her new fiancé’s business.
When their island turns out to be not so private after all, Cora tries to make the best of a bad situation by inviting their strangely friendly neighbours to celebrate with them.
But it doesn’t take long for her once-in-a-lifetime holiday to take a very sinister turn…
P.R. Black and Aria have shared an extract today.
***** beginning of extract*****
Once the call was over, Jonathan dropped the phone onto the sand. He grinned, slipping on a pair of shorts he’d discarded by the side of the beach chair the night before. ‘Now you believe me?’
‘I’m not sure I do… This is incredible. What happens now?’
‘How about everything you’ve ever wanted?’
‘The amount of money… it’s a dream, but my God. The responsibility.’ She drew a hand through her tight black curls. ‘It’s a great thing. But a terrible thing.’
‘Yeah, I know. With absolute power, comes great, whatever. Spider-Man. Uncle Ben. Loved that movie. The Tobey Maguire one, I mean. Real Spider-Man.’
‘I’m serious. And what if we get kidnapped?’
‘Kidnapped!’ Jonathan spluttered. ‘Bit presumptuous. The money’s only just gone in the bank!’
‘It happens – you hear about it all the time. It happens to millionaires, it’s common. They get targeted. For cars, or ransom demands. They capture their kids, their wives. We’ll need security guards… and cameras… or a really big dog.’
‘How about a tyrannosaur? We could afford one of those. We’ll need a really big doghouse. Come to think of it, we’ll need a big house of our own. You always wanted a swimming pool, right?’
She giggled. ‘Is this actually happening?’
He nodded and bit his lip. ‘Are you pleased? Tell me you’re pleased.’
She paused. ‘We have to do something good with it.’
by 
NK Chats To… Patrick Canning
Hi Patrick. Thank you so much for joining me on Novel Kicks today. Can you tell me a little about your novel, The Colonel and The Bee and what inspired the idea.
The Colonel and the Bee is a Victorian Age adventure novel about a young acrobat who meets a larger-than-life explorer and the journey they go on together. The idea for the book was as simple as people flying around in a hot air balloon, getting into adventures, and the characters and themes followed.
What’s your writing day like, where do you like to write and do you have any writing rituals?
I try to write every day (though admittedly little on Sundays). I write in coffee shops because there are too many distractions at home. I wouldn’t say I have any real rituals other than a cold brew or iced tea, and I’ll either listen to the ambience of the space or something instrumental in my headphones to really focus in.
Can you tell me a little about your writing process from idea to final edit?
I always have a long phase of gathering material for a particular idea, and once that becomes enough for an outline, make a fairly general outline. Whenever the schedule allows, the outline goes into a first draft (which usually takes a few weeks). Then it’s many rounds of rewriting, outside feedback, and whatever else is necessary to get the book out.
What music would feature on a playlist for this novel?
Any kind of whimsical classical music. The soundtrack for the movie The Brothers Bloom might work.
What is more important when writing a novel, character or plot?
I think it depends on the particular novel. Stories that are more firmly rooted in genre will probably have a more plot-dependent execution because there are certain reader expectations, but if something is a little more literary or unconventional, character might take the lead. The boring but true answer is that both are simultaneously the most important, and in some ways inseparable if done correctly.
How do you approach creating a character?
by Book Review: A Messy Affair by Elizabeth Mundy
The only way is murder…
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, is forced to brush up on her detective skills for a third time when her cousin Sarika is plunged into danger.
Sarika and her reality TV star boyfriend Terry both receive threatening notes. When Terry stops calling, Lena assumes he’s lost interest. Until he turns up. Dead. Lena knows she must act fast to keep her cousin from the same fate.
Scrubbing her way through the grubby world of reality television, online dating and betrayed lovers, Lena finds it harder than she thought to discern what’s real – and what’s just for the cameras.
I am very happy to be involved in the blog tour for A Messy Affair by Elizabeth Mundy.
Lena is an Hungarian cleaner who works in London. She uses the cover of her job to solve the murder of reality TV star, Terry Tibbs.
Whilst trying to figure out who killed Terry and keep her cousin safe, she’s struggling to determine what is real and what was for the cameras.
I had not read any of the previous books in the series but this didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t feel that I was playing catch up.
Lena is a feisty character and I immediately liked her. The supporting characters were all intriguing too.
Reality TV plays a big part in the plot along with revenge, obsession and murder. It’s a good study at how reality TV is blurring the lines between what is real and fiction and like Lena, I was desperate to find out what was what.
by Book Review: Right Behind You by Rachel Abbott
Jo Palmer’s peaceful and happy life is about to end.
Ash – the man she loves – will be arrested by the police.
Millie – her precious daughter – will be taken from her.
She will lose her friends.
She will doubt her sanity.
Someone is stealing everything Jo loves, and will stop at nothing.
But right now, Jo is laughing in her kitchen, eating dinner with her family, suspecting nothing.
It’s raining outside.
There’s a knock at the door. They are here.
When the police show up at Jo’s door saying they are arresting her partner, Ash, she doesn’t know what to think.
When Social Services are not that far behind, saying that they want to take her daughter, Millie due to complaints of abuse, Jo very reluctantly agrees when she thinks she has no choice.
When it becomes clear that things are not what they seem, Jo becomes frantic.
DCI Tom Douglas and DI Becky Robinson are back and they vow to help her but with Jo questioning which people she can trust, she doesn’t know whether she will see Ash and her daughter again.
I am always so happy when Tom and Becky come back again. They are one of my favourite crime fighting duos and I was intrigued to see what came next.
I don’t know what it is about these novels but I devour them. I race through them because I can’t stop reading and then I have such a book hangover once I’ve finished. Rachel Abbott has such a way of writing a compelling thriller and this book, like the others, did not disappoint.
Some of Jo’s decisions are questionable but overall, I felt sorry for her.
by NK Chats To… S.L Briden
Hello. Thank you so much for joining me today. Can you tell me about From the Ashes, the first novel in your Shadows of a Phoenix series and how the idea originated?
Since a young age, I’ve always been fascinated with the Arthurian legend and, later on in life, the dark ages of the UK. My late husband shared this fascination with me and together we spent many years researching myths and legends across the UK.
From our research, we discovered that the roman era of the UK displayed strong possibilities that their gladiators who used two swords in their arena’s, could have extended this battle technique over to the UK. Thus, we drafted the series, ‘Shadows of a Phoenix.’
I’ve always loved reading and writing stories but over the years I’ve found that some fantasy stories, including historic ones, tell of the battles and feats of the heroes and heroines conquers but didn’t give a realistic feeling of how anyone would cope mentally to be a part of it, even if the characters are made up and can perform sorcery.
To believe you would be brave and just carry on with life as normal was completely absurd to me, the same as if the weight of a prophecy was placed on your shoulders which states that you are the one to bring peace, so that is where the idea came to me that there needed to be a story out there that showed the true effects these things could have upon someone and the mistakes they make along the way.
That a prophecy is nothing to be rejoiced about when you are the one prophesied.
What is your typical writing day like? Are you the kind of writer that needs endless amounts of coffee? Do you prefer silence? When and where do you like to write?
I mainly write in the evening at home but most of the time it’s not in silence. I write with my headphones on and listen to music to connect to me with different scenes that I’m writing.
I begin with a playlist that I add different scores to, to fit each scene, character or specific occurrence, be it just a single track or numerous ones for the same scene I am writing.
If whilst writing my draft I believe the track is suited to another scene, or it no longer inspires me, I simply move the track up, down or delete it.
I am always adding more tracks to each scene and deleting others whilst writing the novel which by the end of it gives me a musical outline of the story
Which fictional character would you like to meet and why?
Daenerys Targaryen. Putting aside that she’s turned into a mad queen toward the end of the Game of Thrones, she started as a scared young girl and turned into an amazing leader who sought to abolish slavery. Ok, and she can command dragons! lol
What’s your favourite word?
Muppet — I can be one myself at times lol
What are the challenges of writing a series of books?
by Book Club
